US History and LDS Church History Trip…and links to each days blog

This is a National Cemetery were many soldiers are buried from the Battle of Antietam.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We visited 218 US History and LDS Church History sites in 47 days.  (That included visiting 54 different cities). Each day is blogged with information about places we visited, maps, photos and highlights of the day.

If you would like more information if you are planning a trip, you can email me at priceless6191@gmail.com.  I kept very detailed records including: budgets, trip plans, and calenders for the trip showing our day by day progress.  I also have tons of brochures and maps for specific places, although I did try to scan the most important details I have onto each blog page.  Below is listed each city we visited, and what we did there.  Click on a city and start exploring.

I made this blog because I realized I would have appreciated a site with more specific information.  I hope this is beneficial to anyone who wants to take a history trip.  It was our families dream trip, and we still refer to it often.

Here is a PDF with a summary of our trip. (If you would like an editable version, I have the spreadsheet version also.)
Trip Itinerary

** Just a side note as you look around the site…no my kids names are not Bazooka, Starburst, Jawbreaker etc…our kids just picked nicknames so they could have some privacy.  Have fun looking!!!!

Alcova, WY
Devils Gate, Church, Trek, Independence Rock

Custer, WY
Custer County Museum, City 4th of July

Crazy Horse, SD

Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore 4th July Celebrations

Rapid City, SD
Dinosaur Park, Storybook Park

Wall, SD
Wall Drug

Omaha, NE
Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Winters Quarters Temple (E,B), Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Glenn Cunningham Lake, Pioneer Courage Park

Council Bluffs, Iowa
Kanesville Tabernacle

Nauvoo, IL
Play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, Women’s Garden, Riser Boot Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy M Smith Home, Brickyard, Heber Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s homes, Movie “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”, Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, Smith Family Cemetery, Trail of Hope, Youth of Zion, Play “Old Anna Amanda” 2xs, Nauvoo Pageant 2xs, Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Nauvoo Temple (B,E), Frontier Fair 2xs, Play “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”, Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Lands and Records Office, King Follet Discourse, Emma and Josephs Letters Vignette

Carthage, IL
Carthage Jail

Macomb, IL
Dinner with Steve -Guadalupes Restaurant

Petersburg, IL
Lincolns New Salem (camped there)

Springfield, IL
Springfield Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home, Lincolns-Herndon Law Office, Old Capital, Lincoln Library, Lincoln Presidential Museum

Chicago, IL
Chicago Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Chicago Temple (B,E)

Gary, IN
Just for Gas and Photos

Kirtland OH
Kirtland Ward, Ashery, Isaac Morley Farm, Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney Home, Sawmill, Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple RLDS

Parma, OH
Brian and Camilla’s Home

Hiram, OH
John Johnson’s Home

Middlefield, OH
Amish Country, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught)

Kenmore, NY
Mags home, Keeners, Lindbergh Elementary, Pam’s Home

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls, Cave of Winds

Buffalo, NY(2 sites or events)
Downtown Buffalo, Duffs Chicken Wings

Mendon, NY
Home built by Brigham, Early Meeting Home, Phineas Young’s Home, John Young’s Home, Tom Tomlinson Inn, Heber Kimballs home site, Camped at John Young’s Home, Site of Brigham Young’s Mill and Home, Baptismal Site, Tomlinsons Cemetery

Palmyra, NY
Palmyra Visitors Center, Palmyra Temple (B,E), Palmyra Pageant, Sacred Grove, Smith’s Log Cabin and Frame House Alvin built, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s Home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)

Waterloo, NY
Peter Whitmer home

Oakland, PA
Aaronic Priesthood Monument, Joseph and Emma’s Home Site, Grave of Emmas parents and son Alvin Smith, Susquehanna River

Jersey City, NJ 
Liberty Harbor

New York, NY
PATH Rail System, Site World Trade Center, 911 Memorial and Museum, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, China Town, Little Italy, Noho, Washington Square Park, New York University, Empire State Building, Garment District, Bryant Park, Time’s Square, Theatre District, NBC Studios, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, New York City LDS Temple, Madison Square Gardens

Philadelphia, PA
Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, Liberty Bell Center”

Hershey, PA
Hershey Amusement Park

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg National Park

WashingtonDC
Washington DC Temple (B,E), IKEA, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Walking Tour, Arlington Cemetery, United States Capital Building, a Session of Congress, a Session of the House of Representatives, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, White House, Holocaust Museum, Nationals Game

Alexandria, Virginia
Mount Vernon

Centreville, VA
Bull Run Regional Park (Camping), visit with Tamara and family, Atlantis Water Park

Manassas, VA
Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas)

Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry

Sharpsburg, MD
Antietem Battle Field

Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, VA Pier and Chick-fil-A

Chantilly, VA
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Annex

Middletown, VA
Cedar Creek Battlefield (2nd Manassas Battle Reenactment)

Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, University of Virginia

Buena Vista, VA
Southern Virginia University

St Louis, MO
St Louis Temple (B,E), St Louis Arch and Musuem, Old Court House (Dred Scott Case), Outside Busch Stadium, Feet in the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Cottleville, MO
Joel and Christy’s Home

Independence, MO
LDS Visitor’s Center, Harry Truman Presidential Library, Missouri Mormon Walking Tour (things we saw on the tour: Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Jackson County Courthouse, 1827 Log Courthouse, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, Church of Christ Temple Lot, Community of Christ Temple, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Printing Office Site (Evening and Morning Star), Governor Boggs Home Site, and Partridge Home Site and School) , Campus RV Park (next door to the LDS Visitors Center), Vaile Mansion

Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Temple (B)

Liberty, MO
Liberty Jail, Eight Witnesses Monument

Richmond, MO
David Whitmer’s Grave, David Whitmer’s Livery site (marked by with a plaque), Old Richmond Jail Location, Statue of General Alexander W. Doniphan, Pioneer Cemetery (Monument for the Three Witnesses, Grave for Oliver Cowdery, Peter Jr. and Jacob Whitmer’s Graves)

Farwest, MO
Far West Temple Site

Jamesport, MO
Amish Country, Amish Baseball Game, and Shopping

Jameson, MO
Adam-ondi-Ahman , Jameson Town Fair and Parade

Doniphan, NE
Mormon Island

McKinnon, WY
Little America

Boston, MA
11 years later we went back to add Boston to our list or US/church history travels. Here is a link to the beginning of that trip. Yale, Scarburough and Prospect Ave in Hartford, CT, Mark Twain’s Home, Boston Temple, Boston Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Boston Latin School Site, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, New State House, Boston Commons, Harbor Cruise, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Home, Old South Meeting House, Union Oyster House, Omni Parker House, Cheers, Prudential Tower Observation Deck, Trinity Church of Boston, Old South Church

Other Valuable Links:
Mormon Pioneer Trail Auto Tour Route Guide
mormontrails.org

DAY 41 – August 8, 2012 – An unexpected wonderful 2nd day in St Louis

We hemmed and hawed over staying another day in St Louis.  I had been told about Grants Farm, but how I understood it, was it was kind of like a small petting zoo, with minimal information about Ulysses S Grant.  It wasn’t overpoweringly tempting, but I just kept feeling like if we were here we should just go.  We voted 4 times as a family over it.  The vote always leaned towards staying, but nobody was totally excited, they just thought it sounded interesting.  Finally we had to make a decision, and just decided what the heck, we were here, instead of heading on lets just go see what it’s all about.

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park

We totally found a hidden gem.  EVERYONE is glad we stayed, and it took our entire day.  I don’t think I can brag it up enough.  I LOVE this place!

First of all it’s not just Grants Farm.  Mr. S ignored the GPS, and thought the place across the street was Grants Farm.  Well it wasn’t, but it turned out to be Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park.  When our little kids saw the National Historic Park insignia, they just started cheering because by now they are expert junior rangers and are excited to earn another badge, which they did here.

In this home at the park, Ulysses wife grew up.  They met and courted here, they lived here as U.S. Grant (as they called him here) tried his hand at farming, and they vacationed here when he was president.  They have a short movie, a museum, a tour and walk through of the home.

The kids and I were talking later, and I think out of all the places we have been, this National Park was THE BEST at their job of presenting an american hero.  They are small and go unnoticed, so they have the opportunity to be more personal.  The park rangers are very knowledgeable and seemed to take great pride in sharing their feelings and the stories about Ulysses S Grant.  They addressed his controversies and his strengths, and did it in a very respectful way.  They left me admiring and wanting to read more about Ulysses S Grant.  It was a fabulous park.

We were probably there for 2 hours.  Then we ate lunch and headed over to Grant Farm.  Grant Farm is run by Anheuser-Busch.  In the 1850s, Ulysses S. Grant lived and farmed a portion of the 281 acres. Now they have rebuilt his home on this site (the house across the street at the National Park was his in-laws house and then later his, this was his first house here).   Then use the rest of the site as a farm.  The farm has more than 900 animals representing more than 100 different species. The farm is FREE, except for parking which is $12 for a car.

It was $30 for a RV, but we were already parked at the National Park across the street.  We kept our RV parked there and just walked over.  It turned out to be closer to the entrance than parking for $30 on the farm.  (just a hint to RVers)

When you enter the park, they pick you up on a tram, and drive you around the park.  First they showed us Ulysses S. Grants home.  They also have added a fence around Grant’s Cabin that is made from Civil War gun barrels, it’s very cool.

Then you get to see the animals as the tram drives through their range.  You can see many different species of buffalo, deer, cows, horses, yaks, and birds.  At one point there was a buffalo sleeping right next to the road we drove by, and we could have reached out and touched him.  The kids just loved it.

** Kid Note:  I think the kids are able to see more animals from the right side of the tram, so I would load them on that side and then have the adults in your group take the left side.  Our kids ended up rearranging their seats this way so they could see better.

After the tram ride they bring you to a small zoo.  By small, for me, I mean perfect size.  I’m not an all day, walk in the heat and look at animals, type of person.  This farm/zoo was perfect!  Right when we walked in we bought a couple of kid passes.  For $5 you could have 1 snow cone, 2 bottles of milk to feed the goats, and one carousel ride.

First the kids fed the goats, which was kind of funny because we raise goats…but we have never bottle fed goats before.  We always let their mothers take care of them.  It turns out our kids loved this!  Well it was quite the ordeal.  Mr. S is now considering running a small petting zoo and copying a small portion of what they do here.  The kids absolutely loved it!  The baby goats were so cute.  Even the teenagers were having fun.

After we fed baby goats we visited their bird section.  What is fun about their birds, is they are not in cages.  I think the sign said 80% of a these birds, falcons and eagles, lives are spent perched.  So they have them tethered so they can move around a little and perch, but they aren’t all caged up.  This makes it so you can see them really well, and you feel very close to them.  One of the employees came out and we were able to request which birds we wanted to see, and she un-tethered them and would bring them up to us to look at and talk to us about them.  It felt so personal as opposed to other zoos I’ve been to.

They have 2 shows, and we were able to go to both of them.  I would say they were as good as any animal shows I have paid large amounts of money to watch.  They let the birds fly around us, and had some other animals come out.  They would pick a couple kids out of the crowd and let them on the stage and participate with the animals in activities.  They were funny and entertaining, and educational.  It was amazing!

After that animal show we went down to a show where they taught us about elephants.  The elephant was great.  Both shows were very good.  Our kids loved it.  They liked them enough we went back to the first show a second time.

Then we wandered around the farm, and looked at the horses, camels, birds, llamas, foxes, iguanas, kangaroos, bald eagles, tortoises and goats.  That is the extent of the animals, but it was the perfect size.  Everyone was entertained for 2 ½ hours, and it was free.

Afterwards I asked the kids if they wished that we had gone on and skipped today, and everyone, teenage and young alike said absolutely not.  I have a feeling this will show up on a couple of kid’s top five picks of the trip.  And to think we were going to skip it…

It was such a hot day we decided we needed to find somewhere to drink a lot.  But somehow drinking a lot turned into looking for a place we could eat a lot, and we ended up at Hometown Buffet.

It’s funny the things you miss, I didn’t even realize it…  usually at buffets I head to the salads first and eat quite a bit of that before I eat a main course.  But today, no one did, we all missed meat so bad.  We have eaten a lot of sandwiches and soups and McDonalds hamburgers, and real meat looked so good.  I just started laughing when I looked at my first plate and it was shrimp, fish, steak, ribs, and chicken, and that’s it.

After eating so much I was sick, I went outside to catch up on the blog while everyone else ate for another hour!  While I was blogging I started wondering if there was a Cardinals game tonight, since we were still here.  They were playing the Giants.  When I told the kids, the older boys wanted to go to the game, but the little kid didn’t.  So I talked Mr. S into parking down by the Mississippi and letting us just sit inside and watch movies while they were at the game ¼ mile away.

As usual Mr. S, with all his wisdom, kept saying he felt uncomfortable leaving us in the motor home like that along the river.  I assured him we would be fine, Jawbreaker would be with me, and I would have the keys, so if I was nervous we could leave.  He left very worried, but decided he would humor me.

Well he was right…parking down by the river late at night…not such a great idea.  It got to the point where the little kids were peaking out the window giving play by play over every unsavory looking person that was passing the RV, they were petrified.

I was trying to tell myself you can’t judge people just because they are walking near our motor home and they look a little rough, but I was a little nervous.  About 30 minutes into it, I just couldn’t stand feeling that tense.  I got on the internet, and found out there was a RV park in the middle of St Louis just 2 miles away.  I called Mr. S and apologized for being wrong and asked if he wouldn’t mind jogging 2 miles after the game, because I was leaving the river front.  The always supportive Mr. S told me to get the heck out of there and we left.

The St. Louis RV Park, is just a parking lot in the middle of St Louis with a large fence around it, hookups, and the police station across the street.  But that works for me.  I have air conditioning, and feel safe.  When I pulled up I told them what we had just done and they looked at us in horror, and started telling us all the stories they knew about parking down there at night.  I guess all I can say after the fact is, I’m glad we left.

In retrospect, this campground is a great spot for doing downtown St Louis.  We should have done it the first night, and we probably could have gotten in all we wanted to because we were so close.  But it works out for tonight, and I’m so grateful it existed.

We haven’t really seen anything this convenient in any other cities we have been in.  Another great point about St Louis, they have thought of everything to make your trip great.

Mr. S texted me that they somehow got a hold of free tickets.  We will have to find that story out tomorrow.  I think he forgot a camera,

The only photo we have of Busch Stadium, if you look way in the back. They went to a Cardinals – Giant game tonight.

so we will have no pictures.  The whole plan was just a bit spontaneous.  But it all seems to have worked out in the end.  Another exciting day RVing.

Summary of Day 41
Drove: 65 miles

Places we visited or saw:  Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Our favorite experience in St Louis (we will fill in the rest when they get back)
Jawbreaker: Harpers Home
Spitz:
Bazooka:
Warhead:
Starburst: Grants Farm
Fireball: Grants Farm
Mr. S:
Mrs. S: Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm